Pacific Hydro joins protests against Aussie govt review of renewable targets - report

Sep 2, 2014 - Australian firm Pacific Hydro Ltd has joined the pleas of sector peers to the Australian government to ignore recommendations for the revision of its renewable energy target (RET) which has frozen billions of investments in the pipeline, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said Monday.

Pacific Hydro develops hydro, wind, solar and geothermal power projects in Australia. The company has already put on hold AUD 550 million (USD 511m/EUR 400m) worth of projects in South Australia due to the uncertainty around the revision. Among them is its 100-MW Keyneton wind park, calling for an investment of AUD 240 million.

Pacific Hydro’s executive manager Andrew Richards said, as quoted by the news agency, that the government should not go ahead with the planned changes to the RET as it has been working well to promote renewable energy investment in the country.

The company will wait for a response from the government, according to the report. Richards called for the quick settlement of the case.

Australia aims to source 20% of its total power from renewables by 2020 under the RET, so the programme offers support to projects such as solar and wind farms.

However, several months ago the government picked global warming skeptic Dick Warburton to review the RET. The review panel’s report, published in August, calls for the close of the RET scheme to new entrants with large-scale projects or adjustments to the set renewable energy share goals. Axing RET would halt AUD11 billion in future investments, according to industry estimates.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.930/EUR 0.708)

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